Blood and Handcuffs
by G-dot
Summary: There was a county cop and a promotion to the Big Apple with a Thief and other things lose. How can he settle one case if the damned Thief was always linked to other things he rather not care about like meat puppet making criminals and the like. M Gore
1. Chapter 1

Blood and Handcuffs originally by HexiCroma now continued by Talentless Freak

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter One: The Beginning of the End

Naruto sighed; he couldn't believe he was going to work in a big city! He was a simple, small town cop, and he had just been reassigned to a station in the big city.

Naruto walked over to a mirror on his small apartment wall and attempted to tame his spiky, bright blonde hair; he had finished packing his few belongings and decided to go say good-bye to his family and friends. He had never said good-bye before, everyone had lived here since they were born, and he could already feel his bright blue eyes brimming with tears.

A few hours later, after going to see his mom and little sister, Naruto went to the station to see his old partner, Sasuke. Sasuke had black hair that was all spiked in the back, and black eyes; and he was gay. Amazingly, Sasuke had fallen in love with Naruto when he was three and Naruto had just been born! Nineteen years later, he is still in love with Naruto, even though he knows Naruto is strait.

"Ahem," Naruto said, walking into his old office, "Sasuke? You busy?"

Sasuke turned around, and his face lit up, "Oh, Naruto! You know I'm never too busy for you!" he ran over and hugged Naruto, then ruffled his hair, "Also, I told you to call me Sasu."

Naruto swatted Sasuke's hand away, "Well you know that my hair is messy enough!" he hugged Sasuke back, "I'll call you with my new number when I get there. Don't worry Sasu; we'll still be friends, even though I'm moving."

Sasuke looked away, "Even after…"

"Sasuke," Naruto grabbed Sasuke's shoulders, "I forgave you for that, it's in the past, stop bringing it to the present… I'm okay"

"You say that," Sasuke shook his head, "but you don't mean it… you've always been a terrible liar…" he turned and left.

The next evening, Naruto arrived at his new apartment in New York City. He looked around, his furniture and appliances had arrived about a week ago. Walking over to the phone, he found a sticky note with two pieces of information written on it, his new number and the address of the new station.

Naruto picked up the phone and dialled Sasuke's number; it rang five times before the answering machine picked up, _"Hey, you've reached Sasu. Sorry to have missed your call, but I'm probably either at a dance club, drunk, or both… if this is my mom, ignore that last statement…. Leave your name and number and I'll get back to you when I'm sober… um, I mean when I can… Heh…"_

The machine made a small beeping noise, "Hey, Sasuke! Sorry, I mean Sasu, its Naruto! As I promised, I'm calling with my number, its 555-6763. Well, call me when you're sober and we'll chat. Talk to you later, bye," Naruto set the phone down on the receiver.

Deciding to go find the station so he wouldn't get lost and be late to his first day tomorrow, Naruto slipped on a jacket and grabbed his I-Pod. Slipping in his headphones, he stepped outside. He had picked an apartment relatively close to the station and had a general idea where it was. Since he hadn't had his morning jog yet, mainly because he had spent most of the day on an airplane and at the airport, he decided to jog to the station. A few minutes later, Naruto arrived, and almost fainted. His old station was a small, one story building, with a few cars and a small jailhouse down the road, this one was huge! Five stories high, a two-story car garage, and a three-story jailhouse right next door!

Naruto walked into the building and up to the woman at the reception desk, "Excuse me Ma'am, may I ask where the Chief's office is, I'd like to check in early so I can get more stuff done tomorrow."

The receptionist looked up, "Name?"

"Oh, sorry," Naruto smiled, "Naruto Uzumaki."

"Oh! Chief is on the top floor, the last door down the hall to the right," the receptionist motioned toward the elevator.

"Thanks," Naruto walked over to the elevator and pushed the up button.

A few minutes later, the button lit up and the door opened. Naruto was almost trampled by officers spilling out of the elevator, eager to go home for the night. Apparently, most of the night shift had already arrived, because Naruto was lucky enough to step onto an empty elevator. The elevator door opened at the fifth floor and Naruto walked to the last door down the hall to the right, the door read: The Chief. He was just about to grab the handle when he was barrelled over by the door, and fell on his ass. A tall officer stormed out of the office, he had short spiky black hair, and Naruto thought he saw a glimpse of bandages covering his face. A slightly smaller officer followed the first officer; he had long, black hair pulled up into a high ponytail and dark purple eyes that looked almost black.

The second officer looked down at Naruto, "Zabuza!" he yelled at the first officer "You knocked this kid over! At least apologize!"

The first officer walked back, apparently, he was Zabuza. "Sorry kid." he said to Naruto as he extended his hand,

Naruto wearily took Zabuza's hand and let the older male help him up, "Thanks…" he bowed, "I'm Naruto, sorry for getting in your way."

Zabuza laughed, "Well, Naruto, I'm Zabuza," he gestured toward the second officer, "and this is my boyfriend, Haku."

Naruto stared at Zabuza and Haku, "Boyfriend…?"

Haku smiled a shy, weary smile, and Zabuza put his arm around Naruto's shoulder, "What, you homophobic or something?" Zabuza teased.

"No," Naruto removed Zabuza's arm, "I've been friends with a gay guy all my life, but I've never seen him with a boyfriend, ever."

"Guess he just has tough luck…" Haku sighed, "Poor guy…."

"Well," Zabuza put his arm around Haku's waist and pulled him close, "we have to go home."

"Nice to meet you, Naruto…" Haku said as he and Zabuza walked towards the elevator.

Just before the elevator door shut, Naruto saw Zabuza pull down the bandages and lock Haku's lips in a passionate kiss. Typical. Naruto turned and knocked on the door to Chief's office.

A scary and authoritative sounding voice passed through the door, "Come in."

Naruto gulped, suddenly scared, he grabbed the door handle and peered into the office, "Sir…?"

Chief was staring down at the papers on his desk, but he didn't look much like someone who would be chief of police, he couldn't have been much older than Naruto, and he had four piercings on each side of his nose and two spikes coming out of both sides of his bottom lip, with a whole lot more piercings on his ears. He also had spiked, orange, red hair.

"What do you want? I'm extremely busy," he growled, and then he looked up, "Who are you?"

"Um… Naruto…"

"Oh! Naruto, sorry! You weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow!"

"Well, I thought I would sign in today so we don't have to worry about it tomorrow… but if you're busy…"

"Nonsense!" Chief waved his hand, "You only need to know a few things today. You will be on the day shift; I want you here Monday through Friday from 6am – 8pm, 9am – 6pm on Saturdays. you will be doing office work every day," Chief paused when Naruto's face fell, "Except when you are going after The Thief, your partners will fill you in more on this subject tomorrow, you will be in my office tomorrow morning at 6am sharp, and I will give you the rest of the information, your gun, and your badge. Now get home and get some sleep, you'll need it if you're going to catch The Thief."

Naruto bowed, left the station, went home, and went to sleep.

The next morning, Naruto burst into Chief's office, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he yelled, bowing.

Chief looked at his clock, it read: 6:01, "Naruto! Calm down! You're only one minute late!"

Naruto looked at his watch, confused; it read 8:01, "Oh… sorry… I forgot to change my watch to this time zone… I thought I was two hours late…" laughed he blushing a little.

Chief shook his head, "Well that was odd… anyways… here is your gun and your badge," he handed Naruto the items, "Now go down to the third floor and stand right outside the elevator, your two new partners will meet you there, show you your work area, and explain the Thief situation to you."

"Thank you, Sir!" Naruto turned and rushed to the elevator, eager to meet the people he'd now be working with.

He shoved his way past people getting on as he stepped off the elevator at the third floor. Avoiding the other people, he walked over to a nearby wall and leaned against it.

"Oh, hey Naruto!" Haku smiled and waved, walking over with Zabuza practically glued to his side.

"Hi! What's up?" Naruto waved.

"Nothing much," Zabuza smiled, well, Naruto thought he did, he couldn't tell because the bandages hid his mouth from view.

"What are you doing over here?" Haku asked.

Naruto looked around a little, "I'm just waiting for my new partners, what are you doing?"

"Apparently we're waiting for you," Zabuza laughed, "we're your new partners."

Naruto stared at the two of them for a couple of seconds, and then tackle hugged both of them, earning himself a couple of looks from the other officers. Haku blushed a little at the sudden 'attack' and Zabuza burst out laughing.

Naruto let go and blushed, laughing nervously. "Um… sorry, I… I don't…"

"Hey, man, you're fine." Zabuza put his arm around Haku.

Haku hugged Zabuza, "We do it all the time."

"But you two are dating, you're supposed to hug each other…" Naruto looked at them "aren't you…?"

"That is true…"

"But, we used to hug before we loved each other, and before Haku knew he was gay," Zabuza finished for Haku "so yeah, you're fine," he ruffled Naruto's hair.

Naruto swatted Zabuza's hand away, "Why does everyone love to ruffle my hair so much?" he laughed.

"'Cause it's fun," Haku released Zabuza and ruffled Naruto's hair, and laughed when he made a face.

"It's not fun for me…" Naruto pouted, and then smiled, "So I hear you two are supposed to fill me in on the details of this Thief person"

Haku started to walk away, with Zabuza following him, "Yeah, come to the office we'll be sharing… you'll find your office work, and we'll fill you in on the details," Haku said.

Naruto followed the two of them to a small office at the back of the station, "It's so small…" he mused.

"Yeah, but it's also set far away from the other officers…" Zabuza smiled at Haku, and Haku blushed.

"What's so good about…? Oh...! Sorry I guess I'm sort of invading..." Naruto blushed a little when he realized why a far away office was a good thing.

Zabuza laughed his head off and Haku blushed harder, "Well… Uh… Let's let you know about The Thief, shall we…?" Haku said, trying desperately to change the subject.

"Yeah, good idea," Zabuza smiled again.

"Well, he pretty much will steal anything valuable… We don't know his reasons; we pretty much just think he likes to steal stuff… We also don't really know much what he looks like, except that he has short, spiky hair and blends easily into shadows…" Haku said.

"Wait, how is that all you know about him?" Naruto asked, sitting in a chair, amazed at the lack of information.

Zabuza sat at his desk and sighed, staring at all the paperwork he had ahead of him, "Well no one has ever gotten close enough to him for us to know much more."

"Great! So, I'm sorry, we're expected to catch a Thief who seems to have no motives, no one has gotten close to him, and that we have almost no clue what he looks like! That's just perfect!" Naruto moaned and began to work on the mountain of paperwork Zabuza and Haku had given him.

"Hey, are you ok?" Haku asked, worriedly feeling Naruto's forehead.

"Yeah, Naruto, chill, it's better than getting stuck with only paperwork! Besides, if we can do this, if we can catch The Thief, we get promoted! Better pay, better work hours, better office, it's just all around better!" Zabuza said, happily daydreaming about when he gets promoted.

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped up, feeling suddenly pumped, and then he fainted.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Beyond the Borders of Imagination

There was a silent chill parked between the fringes of the blocks and bridges in the centre of it all: Central Park. The day was dull and ending quickly. It was already nine o'clock in the evening and street life was just about to begin when the Bobbies ran down to the west of the enormous green patch and found a disappointment to them all, a lost life.

"I want seven squads down here now! He couldn't have gotten far!"

Zabuza was having quite the time breathing. He went all the way down this hellhole of a city to this spot right here to have some shithead beat him to the edge of the woods! Fucker! No way is he going without a bruise! He was Zabuza Momochi and he can sniff out any criminal. He knew he was close. The bastard was close. He could feel it in the air. However, the problem was the signature was not moving… It was as if the freak was taunting him to hunt. To _the_ hunt. Fucker!

Haku noticed Zabuza was fuming but Naruto needed him more at this moment. Zabuza was great under pressure especially with this kind of criminals, the taunting ones. The challenge of the psychopaths always allured the older man to "the hunt" as he called them.

Naruto was in no shape or form to go anywhere. He was trembling. He just saw something very graphic and very much dipped in gore. He wanted to puke so bad right then. The downtown air was not helping him forget the scent of blood just ten metres away from him; the dingy lighting did not help the shadows conceal the poor meat lent out into the open chilled air and reality. Naruto wanted to escape reality right now. Who knew? He might even solve the case if he were a little bit insane.

Wait… everybody was a bit insane some time and again. He really needed _something_ right now.

Vodka… yes. The almighty vodka was there to save him. Now, if he could just move.

Haku looked at Naruto in his unblinking state. The poor boy had a shock. They should have let him seen the pictures of the other crime scenes. The Thief was not really so much so as a serial killer. Well… that was the theory. Every time there was a robbery, there was another killing of the same degree as the last from the last robbing spree. The theory was that the killer went wherever the robber went or they're the same person.

"Hey. This is nothing new, Naruto. Just breathe, OK? This is not really our criminal. He is just… well... he is kind of like a stalker of sorts. He stalks our criminal," Haku finished lamely.

"Stalker… of a criminal?" Naruto asked. He was so caught up in the scene just metres from him that the absurdity of the situation given hit him and hit him hard. His eyes were rounded and questioning on Haku.

"Yeah…" Haku drifted off and shuffled nervously. How was he supposed to explain how the criminal mind worked? This was Zabuza's department. He was just minor psychoses but the real psyches were done by Zabuza explaining the hunt thing. "The thing is, Naruto, that these guys are nuts. I only do minor psyches occasionally and those that really just needed some counselling not the… this. This in front of us does not need minor counselling."

"So… Zabuza says there's… a stalker? Shit. Why? _Why?_ I mean, I am a guy that has been freshly fished out of the county and now I am in deep, deep shit without anybody realising how shit fucked up this shit really is in here, the Big Apple!" Naruto all but screamed to the chilling breeze that blew past.

"That's how I felt once, Naruto. You'll love this job. Promise," Haku soothed Naruto. He also smiled warmly at him to double the effect.

"Promise?" Naruto knew he was being such a child for this. This scene has peeled back a lot of layers for him in this case because of the monstrosity that sat in them all, just waiting for the day it can escape. That was why he was there. To help the people save themselves from the awful tyranny that is the greed of society finally bearing down on them until they cracked like the guys he was trying desperately to catch back in the county and, now, here in the Big Apple, was his job and he'll do it because of the responsibility he felt. But, he needed assurance. He needed Haku to promise that was he was doing was the right thing to do rather than be a psychiatrist.

"Promise." Haku smiled.

* * *

This thing he was doing right here was shit.

It was utter crap.

How the fuck was he supposed to know what the _thing_ wanted? What the thing needed from the society was help that was for sure. What the thing it thought it wanted was another matter.

"Naruto, stop referring to Kankuro as a thing. You'll end up like him. Trust me. I've been there," Zabuza said, breaking the thoughts of the near hyperventilating twenty year old.

"I don't like the way he looks at me when I'm in there."

"Don't mind it. He's just trying to scare you off."

"Well it's working perfectly," Naruto said to Zabuza defiantly. He was so not going back there with puppet boy.

"He won't make you into his personal puppet, Naruto. You're safe. You're with me," Zabuza debated again. He was going to beat the crap out of this kid once the case with The Thief was over.

"But, I still hate him."

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU HATE HIM, BRAT! JUST DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO AND GET IT OVER WITH OR I AM GOING TO LET HIM TURN YOU INTO A PUPPET!" Zabuza shouted right in front of Naruto's face and the shout successfully rang through the corridor and to the control room full of personnel.

"Oh. All right, I'll blame you for my death, Zabuza." Naruto pointedly glared at the man with a pout at the side.

Naruto opened the door to the room, which held the Puppet Master II. Kankuro was imitating Puppet Master from a few years back named Akasuna no Sasori, who tortured and killed as many as the black-clad man in front of Naruto in the frost bite cold interrogation room.

"Hello, my name is Naruto Uzumaki and I am here to—"

"I know your purpose. He is just letting me have some fun with old friends and that's all. You'll let me free if you know what's good for the Force," Kankuro clipped in. His voice was growling but the timbre in them was not enough to scare off the Uzumaki. _Not so tough, this one._

"Hey, look man. You know my job. But, I dunno of yours. So let's chat more about this _he_ fellow that let you toy around Counsellor Kendo Oromaru," Naruto cheerfully chatted.

Kankuro's visage slipped a bit but he immediately steeled himself and answered, "He must not be named other than…"

"Who?" Naruto inquired.

"You know him…"

"Let me guess, is it… The Thief?" Naruto guessed. He was walking in circles around the bounded man. He was deemed worthy to don the whole enchilada of chains from the floor up.

Then, the Puppet Master II started to laugh uncontrollably in a very mad way, even his laughing mad eyes were faced towards the blonde while he paced around the criminal.

"Ha! And I thought you knew!" Kankuro shouted in between a fit of laughter and a snort.

He continued to laugh in that chair like the mad man he was brought up to be… but the blonde did not know that and accepted this as insanity due to stress form him and the master planner for this dude's grave in the slammer.

"Who is it? Who? So I can help you!" Naruto screeched right back to the laughing. He was serious. He liked his job because it helped people. Any kind of people at all.

He was only met with chuckles.

* * *

Naruto was having a field day. Literally and metaphorically.

The shithead, Zabuza, wanted him to find out more about the damn puppeteer's master. Like the loon would tell him anything coming close to a sane answer.

How does Zabuza do it? How does Zabuza look into insane eyes and say the madness is only a mask for weakness when the persons he was talking about were completely nuts and tried to strangle him, being only inches away from their faces.

Maybe it had something to do with the chains. No. There was Kankuro as the living proof that it was not the chains that made all those loons talk to Zabuza before. Maybe it was rewards. Rewards were something that all humans desired. Everyone of them would succumb to something. Yes. Rewards there were then.

Rewards… what rewards? What would—Yeah. Puppets. Meat puppets.

This was so stupid and pointless. There's no way that Kankuro would talk to him sanely.

_But before he laughed his ass off, he did talk to me about the master thing._ Naruto thought.

There must be something to make the guy crack some sense into his own system.

There must be something. Anything.

* * *

He was so going to kill Zabuza tonight.

The twenty year old went off into the direction of the interrogation room. He requested the suspect be held there for another go. He sure hoped that his plan would work. Because, they were not making progress in both cases of the Body Bag and The Thief. They know who the criminal is behind Body Bag but why did he do the crime was another matter. And, what his crimes mean to and their link to the enigmatic thief is another. Were their crimes symbiotic to each other or is the other merely a parasite of the great Thief?

This shit kills.

Naruto waited for the black-hooded man to come in and be chained down to his seat.

This was it. He was so killing Zabuza tonight.

"Okay. Mr. Sabaku, we know of your background now. But, it does not make any sense why you and your siblings fled on the night of October 10, 2006 to who knows where and it even makes less sense why there were continuous drops of the shares and stocks from the Sabaku Corporation when they're sells were high and they're buying sprees don't put stunts to the corporations growth. Did the master planner have anything to do with this?

"The killing factor to the company was the leeching to their system. The _dead_ investors somehow manage to invest little and gain surprising big stocks then stop out of the game like the dead they were. You were thirteen going on fourteen when the event started. Exactly one year after you and the others fled. Why did you flee and did you cause the leeching or were you involved in any way with this?"

Naruto was looking at Kankuro's eyes the whole time. As an added bonus, he was only inches away from the guy's face. He copied the acts of Zabuza when he interrogated the little puppeteer monster back at the Park. Zabuza was fierce when he confronted the guy. _I think the guy was… very scared though he didn't show it._ Naruto thought.

Determined eyes met defrosting ones. Then, Naruto caught the glimpse of sadness, fury, and dejection emanate from the cold depths of the brown hues of Kankuro Sabaku's eyes.

"Please… no. Just… take me instead. Just… no…"

* * *

_What happened?_ That was what the look on Zabuza's face said.

I ignored him. However, I plopped down on the couch and Thunked™ my head to the table.

It had been a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The following has been researched and thought over in a real environ but all the events herein are all fictional and any character that maybe named or can be linked to other persons in the environ during the timeline of this fiction are in no way researched or connected in the fabrication of the plot and story. The establishments that will come up have not been informed of and involved to the casting of their respective ownerships however it is not the intention of the author to advertise and NO MONEY IS DRAFTED IN THE MAKING OF THIS FICTION. Characters are of Masashi Kishimoto.

(I forget disclaimers every time I write….)

* * *

_There was No One_

Then of course, there was the logical world.

He never really believed in all the crap Uncle stuffed down the throats of Father and his associates. He never thought that his sister would come down one evening and see him writing. He never thought that another evening would come with a relative surprise. Kankuro had had never been able to stand the stench. He had had always thought Uncle knew the truth about _Him_. The sick twisted son of a monster was always taunting him to write.

He never believed the logic of the shit happening around him. The logical world is stupid at face value.

_Avoid writing--gets you antsy._ Some note from a loving person. Who else could love him but himself?

* * *

Nothing ever makes sense in the Big Apple, thought Naruto as he entered his apartment for some well-deserved rest.

It had been the longest day Naruto had ever had the displeasure to go through. He had these tons of paperwork about Mr Sabaku, the park sighting, the park murder. All of the things that categorise themselves as wrong had been dumped on his desk and shoulders for the past ten hours. This shit was what was waiting for him back in the county.

Why was he here?

There was Zabuza here already. They did not need him. However, why spend some expense on a little mediocre cop from the dusty hills?

Naruto enjoyed the quiet of his living space for the first time since he was settled. He placed his cup of ramen down on the low-lying table he bought last Christmas for the sake of his sanity. Long hours plus uncomfortable table chairs equals NO. The plus side was minimalism in his place. There was a window in the living room and one in his bedroom. He was lucky to find a three-room apartment. He had one for bed, one for guests, one for cooking—that was not counting the bathroom, which was spacey and has no grime. Naruto Uzumaki was a lucky person indeed. He thought that even through his placement in the city. Although he was lucky, luck did not explain why he felt so drained. He had gone from easy-going bobby down dust hills to murderer-and-thief-chasing city dodo.

Naruto had decided then that he hated city life. He wondered what Sasuke—Sasu was doing right then and if he had handled cases like the ones he was facing.

Of course the logical answer was no. But, Naruto wanted to call his friend anyway and catch up on old man Sarutobi.

Naruto dialled Sasuke's number. _"Hey, you've reached Sasu. Sorry to have missed your call, but I'm probably either at a dance club, drunk, or both… if this is my mom, ignore that last statement…. Leave your name and number and I'll get back to you when I'm sober… um, I mean when I can… Heh…"_

He still had not changed the message. Must be busy, thought Naruto.

"Hey, Sasu. I'm so tired. I am suddenly handling two cases. I'm starting to wonder why I'm really here. There's this guy that is really awesome at snuffing—I mean sniffing, yeah, out the criminally twisted—uh… the perps… Sasu… call me back. Please call me back and take Grandpa with you." Naruto ended the call.

He simply stared at nothing in particular for the next five minutes and then blacked out as an object hit the back of his head.

* * *

The thing about New York City is that it would always be a dirt hub. Dirt women meet dirt men and then make dirt babies who would carry on the stench human's had had since the beginning of living in the Big Dump Apple.

He hated the city with a vengeance. There was never something pretty about it. All the little things in it were fake. Synthetic junk.

The first time he saw it, it made him write for weeks on end. It was all over the news. Father was displeased and pleaded for him to take to somewhere, like Czechoslovakia. He liked the cold.

He thought of nothing more than seeing the beauty every world had to offer. Beauty is something he desired for no one ever brought beautiful things into his life, materialistically or sentimentally. Nothing out of the black and white print Father's life had been.

The sick son of a bitch wanted his son to die out of the misery. Along with him. Asshole.

Like his brother-in-law. Uncle was in no form to say to him he was a sociopath. Uncle had been as well.

Oh, well… they're now with who they longed for in, one, eight years, the other, twelve years.

The psycho left him a present—how thoughtful of him. Out of ten to the twelve things he could have had left him… His guess was they were all his responsibility.

His and his siblings' responsibility.

* * *

Naruto woke up and the first he managed to see were horizontal lines. What the fuck?

He was in no mood for fun and games and the place that he was in was certainly not the apartment he was renting. And what with the horrible—sirens?

"U-Uzumaki? What are you doing here? I thought you already left; you clocked out ages ago." A figure said from somewhere to his left. Then, Naruto realised that he was on the floor, and not just any floor, he was in Kankuro's cell. Shit.

* * *

The first real sight of beauty came when Father decided to bring him to Las Vegas. He escaped from the black and white. He went for some miles into the dust hills and ended up in Sandy Valley. He was trained as a demon for his father; he would be the perfect Sabaku heir. The bastard learned from Uncle's accident that he could make him a miniature demon without a hitch anymore.

There was a little church he had strayed upon and everyone was quite welcoming. There was this Umino person that wanted him to take a rest in their place. He accepted and cleared the fact that he was eight years old. The person was shocked and insisted to call his parents. The answer he gave lead to Umino seeking an adoption office for inter-state adoptions the very next day. This was shocking to the Sabaku because he was always treated without a care; the man has another adopted child and working two jobs.

He met the infamous Naruto then. The kid was something else entirely. First time he looked upon Sabaku, he said, "I like you! Let's be friends! My name is Naruto! What's yours?"

You can practically feel the exclamation marks.

He was found the next week. Father was mad. Gaara Sabaku survived the dessert.

* * *

Naruto was looking at a spot on the very interesting carpet of the chief's office. He had been sent here in order to get things straight how he got in Kankuro's cell and how the prisoner got out.

He was total shit. What the fuck happened? He was sitting in his apartment, minding his own business, then—BAM! Nothing was coming up! He did not know why he was in there or who put him there. Maybe it was the "him" Kankuro was talking about. The psycho has friends…

I hate Mondays, Naruto thought. But, now, I hate Tuesdays even more.

He was going to get up early this morning anyways. He was going to be on-time this Tuesday so that he could be better prepared at cracking the Kankuro guy—to milk him of any leads to any other murders, the Thief person, anything at all. He especially wanted to know what had become of the other Sabaku Siblings. He had a feeling he should be remembering something about them but…

"Naruto."

Naruto looked up from the interesting spot on the floor to his boss's face. "Hello."

"You don't look too peachy."

"No," Naruto said listlessly.

"So… first times are always the worst. It sticks to you more than any other case."

"Huh?" Naruto did not understand. What was the chief talking about?

"I was in your div, kid. Never really liked leaving that department or even div. I liked the Hunt Zabuza talks about. However, I do have a case that stuck to me. It was my first and I never solved it."

Before Naruto could ask what the case was about, Pein decided to continue. "I was working with Konan then. She was transferred to Chicago. She was the veteran of the game. She taught me things of great value—things that can and have saved my life. She also introduced to me my first case here in New York. I was from Nevada like you but I was not in Las Vegas. Hate the place. Anyway, she said I had to work with her about the case and I was going to lead. I was nervous. She was the one feeding me info—don't get me wrong, she didn't spoon-feed me. She was the one who was spouting crap about the son of a bitch I was after. He was really twisted. The psycho was cutting up people and making them dance for him.

I was after the Puppet Master."

"Kankuro?" Naruto asked.

"No, I was after Akasuna no Sasori. He had the guts to show off his face in public one time but he always leaves a picture of himself every crime he gets. Asshole." The chief's hands curl into tight fists. "He lets us see how he transforms into "forever." He was surgically attaining a puppet form. Therefore, if he succeeds at fully changing himself into a puppet, he is impervious to anything. I said bull. There is always a weakness. I found his plans and he put a damper on me—he—"

"Chief?" Naruto can feel Pein's aggravation. His hands were so tightly fisted that blood rivulets were beginning to pool life water on his desk. He looked at Naruto eye-to-eye then. Naruto did not realise that the chief had ducked his head nor did he realise that he had actually focused on the chief's features and his turmoil.

"He snatched the plans away and took my eyes out. I had only one night with those plans. He should have slit my throat because I still know his weakness if he succeeds." Pein said without hesitation. His fists paused their trembling.

"But you can see—"

"It's the latest tech, kid. I got these things from Temari Sabaku. She is very kind but very powerful. Thanks to Kakuzu, I got the eyes for a lesser price; he even paid for it. Know this Naruto: Kakuzu is very cheap. He is very, very, very cheap. I have to pay forward my thanks for Kakuzu to the city he loves. The asshole likes dumps…"

Chief was looking a lot more like a person to Naruto… Wait. Temari—

"Temari Sabaku?"

"Oh, yes. We already informed her on a few things and we have a warrant to search her labs next morning. She says she didn't have any real contact with her brothers in three years. We believe that she did have contact or, at least, her brother stole from her in order for Kankuro Sabaku to have those puppets move. Our men have inspected the puppets. They're metal and wood. Funny thing is why have wood in there? You already have the metal. Although, the puppets do look like they're made of meat. Oh yes, the puppets weren't moved. They were left behind. Those things cost a fortune. Why just rescue the puppeteer?"

Temari—

"What's the name of her other brothers?"

"She only has two brothers. She has Gaara and Kankuro. Gaara's the youngest of the Sabaku siblings. We have nothing on the kid. It's as if he disappeared when he was twelve. Temari isn't keeping him. Kankuro's not exactly sane and he isn't mentioning Gaara. Gaara vanished.

Is there anything you have on him? Do you know these siblings?" Pein asked. He got an itch that Naruto knows something about the Sabaku siblings even before all of this, or maybe just one of them.

"I—I honestly… can't remember right now," said Naruto, looking a bit dumb.

"You know them?" asked Pein.

"I—I know one of them. I think," said Naruto, scrunching his face into an expression that can only be worded as "I'm trying hard to think."

"Then, who?" asked Pein.

"Gaara… Gaara Sabaku. I met the guy before. I just can't remember where." Naruto needed some time alone and in a room without noise. A room where he could think.

* * *

Gaara was certainly a character. Naruto remembered him now. He was a red head. A handsome red head that he had had a crush on… a kiddie's crush. He would never tell Sasuke that. Ever. Sasuke had not met Gaara so he was still infatuated with him. Naruto sometimes wished that they did meet. However, Naruto liked entertaining the idea that he would be the only one the red head would freely talk to and let him be seen without a mask. Even with the mask, I think Sasuke would've fallen for you, Naruto thought of Gaara.

Gaara had the eyes of a rock star and an opera singer mixed into mint green pools edged with exotic kohl. When he got agitated by Naruto's antics, his eyes turn minty, almost white if he got really mad as Naruto guessed. If he liked something, which he showed very much in Naruto's presence, his eyes would become almost blue-rimmed with green centres. Gaara's eyes were pretty.

Naruto was currently eating his favourite flavour of ramen and also currently ignoring the noodles slipping from his _hashi_ every time he thought on Gaara. He was not eating that morning.

Naruto continued to think about Gaara. After his eyes was his personality. He had an attitude of a gentleman in his 50's. Gaara acted old, now that Naruto thought back on it. He would constantly let Naruto go first or let Naruto tug him but reign in Naruto before he crashed into Iruka. Things that gentlemen do. This was also a reason why Gaara was such an icon in Naruto's life before Sakura.

Ah, Sakura was the love of his life. She moved away from Sandy Valley and into Las Vegas. He never saw her again. She was still his love. He had been twelve! Of course, he understood loyalty in that age. Besides, Naruto firmly believed that Sakura would make good on her promise to be a doctor, in addition, she would be the prettiest doctor out there. He would wait for her.

Although, her eyes lacked lustre compared to that of Gaara's. His had had more machismo—

Wait! Of course, Gaara had machismo. Gaara was a man. Boy. Sakura was a girl. Woman.

Naruto stopped thinking for a second to breathe in logic.

Okay. Huh?

Naruto's noodles were cold. He looked at the clock and then did a re-check. He had been thinking about Gaara's eyes since five in the morning since he got back from the precinct. He had been thinking about Gaara's amazing eyes for seven hours. That behaviour was unhealthy.

Wait—another re-check. Amazing? Where did that word come from? Certainly not Naruto's vocabulary.

Naruto was late and was allowed to be late that morning. He had to think about Gaara's eyes. Wait, he had been thinking about a lead. Yeah…

He walked into the precinct wearing his uniform with a mess of a hair.

"Naruto? Are you… alright?" asked Haku. He had a worried expression on his face.

Naruto didn't answer; instead, he walked to his desk, plopped down unto its surface, proceeded to do an Indian seat and continued to ignore everything around him.

Haku was now officially worried. Moreover, when this happens…

"ZABUZA! ZABUZA! Naruto! He—"

"Kid, don't go into the light! Don't—eh?" Zabuza spotted Naruto on his desk nibbling on his right thumb. Zabuza had a lot of papers in hand so he couldn't smack Naruto upside the head.

Zabuza sprinted to his desk and dumped the pile to his "shredding purposes" bin. He then smacked Naruto upside the head.

No impact had been made. Naruto thought the bug on the white cubicle wall was interesting. Red was Gaara's favourite colour.

"Kid. You getting married or something? You had a relative die on you? You traumatised by Kanky? What are your issues? Did you—hey! That hurt…" rambled Zabuza.

_I think I like the deranged look on him. It's kind of sweet when he doesn't know people are scared out of their wits when he looks at them—_

"KID!"

"Wait! Can't you see I'm busy thinking of the next lead? I need to remember everything about him because he doesn't have records past his twelfth birthday!" shouted Naruto. Now, he had to start thinking how Gaara fitted with the other students all over again. Not a problem though.

Naruto looked at the carpet and began thinking of the day Gaara had been taken. He took the redhead to his school and decided to present him to his friends… well, not to Sasuke. Gaara had been so distant to them and only talked to him to talk to them; that had been weird but inviting. He whispered only to the blonde.

Naruto's cheeks had a tinge of red. Haku began worrying. "Zabuza, check on him. I'll check with the chief what he had the blonde do."

When Haku left the cubicle, Zabuza entertained the notion of just having to watch the blonde while he "thought of the next lead."

Naruto was off into deep space known only to him and he was not coming back soon. He was inviting of the reddening of the face and starry eyes. He seemed to be thinking of a girl. Someone he liked perhaps? What the—

"Naruto, are you really thinking of our perp? Seems to me like you're thinking of a girl," said Zabuza.

"He started off the day very early. Earlier than Iruka. Iruka said to me that Gaara had been up earlier than four in the morning! Then—"

"Naruto, who's Gaara?" asked Zabuza, but Naruto did not stop his abrupt ranting.

"Iruka said Gaara cooked for us. It was just simple bacon and eggs and some toast. Then, I requested ramen as a joke. He actually made ramen. Actual ramen. We didn't know where he got all the ingredients. Later on, old man Sarutobi actually had a customer yester night at around nine, buying all sorts of things like spices and flour. Gaara had money on him. A lot of money on him. He was socially awkward and a hell of a lot scarier than Sasuke. The girls didn't stay away though. They liked him.

"We went to school together just for him to drop me off. I saw the awkwardness then—"

"Naruto, who the fuck is this Gaara person?" asked Zabuza, getting more irritated as the blonde cop pointedly ignored him. Naruto was in a trance like state.

"Gaara came on a Sunday afternoon. It was a windy day and there was even a sandstorm when he arrived. Huh? What is it, Zabuza?" Naruto looked like he was in a dream.

"Kid, you sure you're straight?" asked Zabuza, hoping to get a rouse from the boy. None came.

"Yes," answered Naruto. He looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Uhuh," Zabuza supplied a disbelieving reply.

Naruto was only thinking about the redhead for the purposes of the investigations. That was all.

* * *

Why?

Why was the blonde boy there?

Why was _he_ there? This boy is another cornerstone of my existence. He defined what I should do when the time was ripe for my dispatch from the "family."

He showed me there was light. Always light.

Now… why was he hunting down my kin?

The thoughts were swerved by a gentle knocking from the doorway to the hallway leading to the grand staircase.

"Enter."

"Gaara, I thought you might want to rest for your meeting with your imaginary-ex."

"He is not my imaginary-ex."

"Oh… yeah, he's your wife-to-be. Kanky and I figured," said Temari, sliding in between the double doors to the redhead's lair. "Don't you think Naruto might want to have a brighter room to sleep in with you?" Temari looked around for the first time that lovely morning.

"Temari, one more word about the nymph and I—"Gaara was too late to stop what the chain reaction.

"Ooohh… Nymph. Nice nickname, what's yours? I bet Kankuro would have a field day when he gets back up to notch, ne?" Temari's eyes softened and became worried. "Want something to eat so you can sleep?"

Gaara knew Temari was no fool. Yet, she insisted that they live normally and get a house. Gaara refused to be locked in some apartment and bought them a nice two-story house big enough for a grand staircase. He wanted that feature.

Kankuro was supposed to come back. He was entrusted with the fiends every other night; Temari and he would switch. Kankuro was supposed to be laughing with them now. At least, with Temari. He was supposed to kill the bastard and get it over with and be home by midnight. There were not supposed to be any jams in Gaara's computer and there was supposed to be an extra wire case in the New York CCTV system so that Gaara could access that instead if things would have gone awry. They did and those things that were and were not supposed to happen happen. Life was getting trickier by the years for Gaara.

Gaara was supposed to be recuperating. From Father and Uncle, to everything he did before the age of ten, he wanted to stop the evil, the villainy, the scorn from the Sabaku Zaibatsu created for the mindless rich. They were all going to pay for making him work and cleaning up after their pets.

"Temari, how's Kanky-nii?" asked Gaara. He was watching the birds from the balcony, the _asotea_; his back was to Temari. He was not a witness to the turmoil of emotions behind him. He was not ready for being a pillar of emotional support… but he would try hard and efficiently to be useful in the only art he knew of. Kankuro would be avenged.

"Kanky's O.K. He just needs a lot of love and rest and fluids and food—"

"I get it," said Gaara, irritation clear in his voice. Temari was once again forcing some humanity he was not ready for into his bones.

"Your boyfriend sure is forgiving if he likes you," huffed Temari, trying to goad Gaara into admitting to himself that he liked the blond ball of sunshine more than indeed was healthy for an assassin.

"Shut it," said Gaara, standing to take his coat and mask, "I'm leaving for New York City."

"Good luck with your—"

"Don't start with me, Temari. Annoy Kankuro. He would like your company and mischief. Tell him I would rape the blonde in a very colourful light."

With those words, the leader of the Blood Brother Bandits left for the closest airport.


End file.
